Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Youth of a Nation

As you all know there has been a lot of controversy regarding President Obama's address that will be taking place shortly. I will have to admit, as the mother of a kindergartner, I wasn't overly concerned about it. In fact, I really was NEVER worried about it. I made plans to watch it or read it so that I could discuss it with Claire on an age appropriate level. So I did. I read the text today and can honestly say I am proud that our elementary will be showing this speech. I will ask Claire if she watched it, and if she didn't...she will tonight with us. We will discuss how it is VERY important to work hard in school and respect authority. This speech is NO different from ANYTHING Brian and I teach our children. I'm not sure what everyone was so upset about. Is it so bad to teach our children that they should work hard to get what they want? (Although I did chuckle a bit because it seemed to be a bit off from the "redistribution of wealth" concept!) Bottom line, WE LIVE IN AMERICA! Whether you like it or not, Barrack Obama is our president. I will teach my children to listen to him and respect him just as they would any other adult. Then we will discuss the views and values of our family. My children will come in contact with MANY outside influences whether it be television, teachers, other children or the President of the United States of America. I will do my best to guard them from the things I can, but my most important mission is to make sure that Brian and I are the MOST important influence in their lives. (Other than God obviously!) They WILL encounter people and things that will make them question their beliefs. I MUST keep those lines of communication open so when they have questions about their faith or their beliefs they will come to me or Brian and ask questions without fear of being shut down. We will share Scripture with them and help them understand our views and values that we hold most dear.

President Obama's speech talks about getting an education, making good decisions, personal responsibility and respect. How dare he. What a crazy thing to want our youth to be inspired and encouraged. How awful to encourage our children to be responsible functioning citizens in society. What a shame. (Note the sarcasm.)

Read it HERE and form your own opinion. I did. And now I will jump down from my soapbox. I wanted to share MY opinion with you before I read any other blogs.

8 comments:

The reason that some parents were very upset with the idea that Obama would be speaking to our children without our consent was due to the fact that we did not TRUST what he would say to our children and then entrust the educator to translate what the president actually meant to children as young as Kindergartners. The reasons not to trust Obama after the mistruths that have been offered in the early months of his presidency are very well known and documented for anyone who chooses to educate themselves fully and not derive an uneducated "feel good" attitude toward a compulsive liar whether he be our president or not.

If the President is to be "trusted" with his original intent, then why did we not see his speech last week when we all became aware of his intent to speak to America's youth? Why is it that so much of what was originally intended had to be redone? Is it that he had to redo all of what was planned? Why is it that the original speech was slated to be an hour and it only turned out to be for 20 minutes? It is pretty obvious to most that what he delivered today was not what was originally intended.

The beauty of this country is that we are all entitled to our opinions. However, as a Christian I hasten you to educate yourself as to the real whys that so many of us find Obama to be very scarey and then not talk down to those of us who are educated about why we do not share your beliefs.

I have no doubt that you are a fabulous mother, however, there are some of us that are very protective of our children and do not share your opinion.

I would like to start by saying that I am VERY proud of your post. I am proud that you aren't afraid to put your NAME on your opinion!

To Anonymous,I know my daughter better than anyone and KNOW that she never intended to "talk down" to anyone. I mean, it's not like she posted anonymously on someones blog and called them "uneducated" and imply they don't care about their children. That would be really rude and not very Christian-like.

As far as your big conspiracy theory, for argument sake, let us say it is true. That means someone heard the voices of concerned parents out there and made changes. Maybe he did include too much of an agenda in his speech. That is why we have system of checks and balances.

YES, my daughter is a WONDERFUL mother and IS protective of her children. I am proud of the mother she is and am so thankful that my grandchildren have such an example to follow. They are learning to stand up for what they believe in, not lurk in the shadows under the name ANONYMOUS!

By the way, I make typos all the time, but if I was going to call someone uneducated...I would be checking the dictionary on the word "scary" before I hit publish.

Chrissy - well thought out post. And though people will not always agree...otherwise we would all be robots and not proof of a GREAT Creator...we should never be afraid to post, discuss, have our own thoughts.

Now - I have to give you kuddos. I almost ALWAYS tend to WANT to delete negative comments. You're my hero.

I hope you will continue to write out your thoughts on current events. Writing tends to solidify our thinking, both pro and con.

Now where is that anonymous button???

BTW - Chrissy's mom - I know we haven't met...but Chrissy gets her good mommy award from following her momma. Thank you for being a great example to her. Blessings.

Chrissy,I must tell you that I am so sorry if I came across as being hateful to you for your opinion. You said nothing that is not true. I was on the defensive that day because I chose to keep my child home from school that day because I did not want her to watch the speech and I received some heat for that from some. I did not mean to come off as rudely as I must have and I really am so sorry.